Getting an NHS dentist’s appointment in Merseyside has become so difficult that many households now treat seeing one as a stroke of luck rather than routine healthcare. Healthwatch Liverpool’s most recent figures put NHS dental access among the worst in Cheshire and Merseyside, with only around a third of adults and just over half of children in Liverpool having seen an NHS dentist in the last reporting period. Nationally, one in six people say they have gone two years without an NHS dental appointment, and a fifth of those have been left living in daily pain as a result.
Faced with that kind of wait, more people across Liverpool, Sefton, Knowsley, St Helens and Wirral are turning to private practices, sometimes ones they have never used before, simply to get seen. That shift has coincided with a sharp rise in complaints about private dental care: the Dental Complaints Service, funded by the General Dental Council, recorded a 133 per cent increase in complaints in a single year, alongside a jump in cases referred on for fitness-to-practise investigation. None of this means every rushed appointment or unfamiliar dentist leads to substandard treatment. Most do not. But it does mean more people than usual are asking a difficult question: was what happened to my teeth simply bad luck, or was it negligence?
This guide sets out what counts as dental negligence, how a claim works if you are in Merseyside, and what you can expect to recover if your case succeeds.
What counts as dental negligence?
Not every disappointing outcome at the dentist is negligence. Dentistry carries an element of risk even when everything is done correctly, and a filling can fail or an implant can loosen without anyone having done anything wrong. Dental negligence is different: it happens when the standard of care fell below what a reasonably competent dentist would have provided, and that failure caused you harm that would otherwise have been avoided. We have set out the legal test behind this in more depth in our guide to what dental negligence actually means, but the claims we see most often from Merseyside patients include:
- Extraction of the wrong tooth, or unnecessary extraction of a tooth that could have been saved
- Nerve damage during an extraction, filling or implant placement, leading to lasting numbness or pain
- Root canal treatment that is left incomplete or badly performed, allowing infection to take hold
- Crowns, bridges, dentures or implants that are poorly fitted or made from an unsuitable material
- Failure to spot and treat gum disease, tooth decay or, most seriously, the early signs of oral cancer
- Treatment carried out without a proper explanation of the risks involved, so consent was never truly informed
- Infections caused by poor hygiene or sterilisation standards at the practice
NHS or private treatment, does it make a difference?
Legally, no. The same test applies whether you were treated on the NHS or paid privately, and both routes give you the right to claim if the care you received was negligent. What differs is who ultimately answers for it. Most high street dentists, whether they see NHS or private patients, are insured through a dental defence organisation such as Dental Protection Limited or the Dental Defence Union, and it is that insurer’s claims team you are really dealing with. Dental treatment carried out in a hospital setting is more likely to be covered by NHS Resolution instead.
It is worth separating a negligence claim from a complaint, too. If your treatment was private and the issue is more about poor service than harm, the Dental Complaints Service can help resolve it directly with the practice, though it cannot deal with NHS dentistry, give legal advice or award compensation in the way a court can. The General Dental Council can separately investigate a dentist’s fitness to practise, which is a different process again from recovering compensation for what you have been through. If your treatment was on the NHS, our guide to claiming against the NHS covers that route in more detail.
The local picture in Merseyside
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside took over responsibility for commissioning NHS dentistry from NHS England in April 2023 and has since committed an extra £15 million through its Dental Improvement Plan to tackle the access problems described above, including new urgent care pathways and incentives for practices to take on more NHS patients. That investment is welcome, but it will take time to filter through, and dentists across the region continue to work under real pressure in the meantime.
Wherever in Merseyside your treatment took place, from Crosby to Bebington and everywhere in between, the same rules and the same claims process apply. You can see the full list of areas we cover on our Merseyside locations page.
Signs your treatment may have been negligent
It is not always obvious that something has gone wrong until months later, when pain that should have settled has not, or a second dentist raises concerns about earlier work. Signs worth acting on include:
- Pain, swelling or infection that continues well beyond the normal healing time
- Being told by a different dentist that earlier treatment was unnecessary, incorrect or poorly carried out
- Persistent numbness or altered sensation in your lip, tongue or chin after a procedure
- Needing further treatment to correct or repair work you have already paid for
- Never having the risks of a procedure properly explained before you agreed to it
How a dental negligence claim works
A claim typically follows a clear sequence. We start with a free assessment of what happened, based on your account and any records you already have. If there is a case to investigate, we request your full dental records and instruct an independent dental expert, who has no connection to your original treatment, to give an opinion on whether the standard of care fell short and whether that caused you harm. If the expert supports your case, we send a formal letter of claim to the dentist or their indemnity insurer, who then has four months under the Pre-Action Protocol for the Resolution of Clinical Disputes to respond, either admitting fault, denying it, or asking for more time. Most dental negligence claims settle through negotiation at this stage without ever reaching a courtroom, though court proceedings remain an option if liability is disputed. You can read more about how we handle claims like this on our medical negligence page.
How long do you have to make a claim?
Under the Limitation Act 1980, you generally have three years to start a dental negligence claim, running either from the date the negligent treatment happened or from the date you first realised, or reasonably should have realised, that your injury was caused by substandard care. There are two important exceptions. If the person affected was under 18 at the time, the three years does not begin until their 18th birthday. If someone lacks the mental capacity to bring a claim themselves, there is no time limit while that remains the case. Even where you appear to have time in hand, dental records become harder to obtain and memories less reliable the longer you wait, so it is worth seeking advice as soon as you suspect something has gone wrong.
What compensation can you claim?
Compensation is split into two parts. General damages cover the pain, suffering and loss of amenity you have experienced, valued using the courts’ current guidelines: a single damaged back tooth typically attracts a few hundred pounds, several lost front teeth can move well into four figures, and chronic, poorly managed pain that drags on for years can justify significantly more. Special damages cover your actual financial losses, which for dental cases often means the cost of corrective treatment, including private treatment if that is the only realistic way to get it done in reasonable time, plus travel costs, time off work, and an allowance for the psychological impact of what happened, such as dental anxiety that makes future check-ups a genuine ordeal.
No win, no fee
We handle dental negligence claims on a no win, no fee basis, formally known as a conditional fee agreement. This means you pay nothing upfront, nothing while your claim is on-going, and nothing at all if the claim is unsuccessful. If you win, a success fee is deducted from your compensation, and this is capped by law so you always know where you stand before you agree to anything.
Speak to a Merseyside dental negligence solicitor
If a visit to the dentist has left you in pain, out of pocket or facing treatment you should never have needed, you do not have to simply accept it. Get in touch with our Merseyside team for a free, no-obligation assessment of your case, and we will tell you honestly where you stand.